Grasshopper Fudge Mint Brownies

I needed Creme de Menthe for a cheesecake I made for my husband’s birthday a few weeks back. Unfortunately in Minnesota they don’t sell liquor in the grocery stores and I couldn’t even find a small bottle of Creme de Menthe in the baking section, so I had to buy an entire bottle from the liquor store. The cheesecake only called for the 1/2 cup of the Creme de Menthe, which left me with a LOT of liqueur–inspiring me to try a fudgy, mint brownie combo.

Growing up, my mom had a delicious fudge mint brownies recipe should would make occasionally. They had a thick layer of brownie on the bottom, a creamy, mint buttercream layer in the middle, and a thin chocolate ganache-like layer on top. This recipe is very similar, but uses Creme de Menthe in the middle mint layer. If you don’t happen to have an entire bottle of the mint liqueur laying around like me, you can easily substitute mint extract and green food coloring, which I’ll explain below.

This recipe calls for 2 cups (4 sticks) of butter, so you really have to commit to baking this one! I promise, it’s worth it though.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 glass or non-stick baking pan. Melt the baking chocolate and 1 cup of butter in a small saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring until melted. Once melted, remove from heated burner and let sit. Whisk 4 eggs until combined, then add sugar and continue whisking until smooth. Pour in your warm butter/chocolate combo, Creme de Menthe (or mint extract), vanilla extract and flour and continue to whisk until smooth. Pour batter into your greased pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool once a knife can be inserted and removed clean from brownies.

Beat 1 stick of softened butter, 1/4 cup Creme de Menthe (or substitute) and powdered sugar until combined and fluffy. Once brownies are cooled completely, spread your mint buttercream evenly across brownies and set in fridge to let buttercream harden.

Melt your stick of butter in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Once melted, add bag of chocolate chips stir until smooth. Once buttercream has hardened, pour your melted chocolate over the mint layer and spread evenly with a spatula. Tap your pan on the counter a few times to smooth and set your ganache layer. Place in refrigerator until ganache sets, then cut into squares and enjoy!